


Sanctuary

by geminiangel



Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:00:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28189614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geminiangel/pseuds/geminiangel
Summary: Merry Christmas!I hope you enjoy your gift.  I tried to include as many elements as I could.Love,Santa
Comments: 17
Kudos: 41
Collections: 2020 NCIS Secret Santa Gift Exchange





	Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cutsycat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/gifts).



Gibbs watched his SFA beginning his end-of-day routine which started with clearing his desk. There was something up with DiNozzo. The last week the agent had been increasingly edgy. It wasn’t DiNozzo’s normal hyperactive nature. When he was presented a request for the following Monday off, Gibbs could almost feel the anxiety rolling off him. He had signed it and immediately forwarded to Vance along with a request of his own.

Gibbs worried that DiNozzo was in over his head. He hadn’t seen the younger man this tense since the Benoit fiasco. He didn’t think Vance was stupid enough to put his agent in that type of situation, but his gut was telling him DiNozzo was in trouble. The older man had been watching for DiNozzo to begin to closeout for the week. Grabbing his coat, he made his way to the garage to a truck he had borrowed. Gibbs was going to stick like glue to DiNozzo. If someone had dragged him into an op, he would end it. DiNozzo was his SFA and he would get to the bottom of the issue. 

From where the truck was parked, Gibbs saw DiNozzo leave the building and head to his car. The younger man stopped at the car and appeared to be talking to someone. Gibbs looked around but couldn’t see anyone. Who was DiNozzo talking to?

Tony sighed. He felt brittle as if he was on the verge of splintering. The recent cases had been horrific. The one they had just wrapped up, a mass shooting at a commissary, had been the worst. The myriad of grieving family and friends, the victims who were maimed, the people in ICU and the hospitals, the children; Tony felt he had been caught in a maelstrom of emotions. He stopped at the car and took off his winter jacket. It would be too warm to drive with it on. He would put it on the backseat.

Tony shivered. So cold. He turned to scan the area. A cat stood watching him. “Go home. Shoo!” When he opened the back door the cat tried to slip past him. “No. Shoo!” Getting in, he held the cat at bay and shut the door. Putting on his seatbelt, he started the car. He looked out his side window. The cat had sunk to the ground looking so pathetic. 

Even when Tony crawled out of the car, the cat didn’t even attempt to crawl in. It was if it had lost all hope. Tony opened the trunk taking out a towel he kept for accidents. Opening his door, Tony put the towel on his passenger seat. “Well, come on.” The cat’s ears perked up, but it seemed suspicious of a trick. “If you want a ride, get in.” The cat dove for Tony and crawled across him to the towel. “Watch the suit.” He could swear the animal was smirking. Shutting the door again, he warned the feline. “No using my car for your litterbox. I’ll take you with me for now and next week I’ll get Abby find you a home.”

On the way out of town, Tony pulled into a fast-food restaurant. He ordered a plain hamburger, a bottle of water and a milkshake. He also asked about buying one of the containers that used for salads and pointed to the feline. Pulling away, Tony paused and put the bowl on the floorboard with some water and laid the hamburger on the wrapper. “Don’t eat too fast and make yourself sick.” His passenger’s needs taken care of; Tony headed for the interstate.

Unbeknownst to Tony, his tail had also taken a quick stop and grabbed a couple coffees. Gibbs knew DiNozzo wasn’t heading home. It was hard to tell where he was going and where the next coffee shop would be. 

The trip continued for several hours. A quick stop for food, two potty breaks for Tony’s passenger and one for Tony. Tony branched off and headed for rural areas. Each turn was made unto a smaller road. Finally, he turned onto a dirt road. At least he was off the highway that had an icy coat thanks to a clipper passing through. 

Tony blamed himself for starting this trip so late, but he had been desperate to get to a safe zone. Otherwise, he would have picked up on the truck that was following him. Tony gave the driver props. The truck had stayed one to two cars back. He hadn’t picked up on the Virginia license plate and that he was being tailed until about fifty miles ago. Unfortunately, it just so happened there hadn’t been a good place to give the truck the slip. Deciding to confront the vehicle on friendly territory he had turned onto the road to his sanctuary. 

“Merow…” His passenger complained about being woken by the bump in the road that Tony had hit. 

“Listen. I don’t know what we are about to face but when I open the door, I suggest you run.” Tony took a depth breath. There was no cell service but that had always been a plus to Tony. If things got ugly, he would not have backup. There wouldn’t be time to make a run to the house, but he did have his service revolver. The lane was only wide enough for one vehicle. Too soon, Tony spotted his sanctuary. Breaking he angled to a stop, driver’s side away from the truck. Knowing the dome light would give a silhouette for the perp, Tony pulled his gun before open the door and exiting the car.

“Federal agent.” Tony called. The truck’s engine was shut off. “Get out of the truck with your hands up.”

“At ease, DiNozzo.”

The voice. It echoed in his brain. His sanctuary had been infiltrated. Tony shook his head. Standing up he holstered his sig. “What are you doing here, Gibbs?”

“Can we discuss this inside?”

“Okay, cat. Do your business then we are going in.”

Gibbs watched as the cat obediently jumped out of the car. He almost laughed as the cat felt the wet cold snow and abruptly turned and jumped onto the running board. The cat looked up at Tony, “Merow.”

Tony looked at it sternly. “I will not be happy if you mess in the house or you wake me to go out.” 

From Gibbs’ perspective his SFA and the cat were in a Mexican standoff. The cat tried glaring at Tony but Tony glared back. Next, the cat lowered itself to lay on the running board and looked at Tony pitifully. Tony just looked at it. Finally, the cat gave him “kitten eyes,” one step up from puppy eyes and began to meow pitifully.

“Fine.” Tony reach in and got the towel and dropped it over the cat picking it up. “Don’t get used to this.” Tony looked at Gibbs’ amused look. “Don’t say a word or you can sleep in the truck.”

Tony climbed the steps to the small porch and put the cat down. “There should be a sheltered area at that end of porch.” Reluctantly the cat went through the rail. Tony took his keys and opened the door. 

“I’ll grab our bags. Your bag in the trunk?” When Tony nodded, Gibbs held out his hand for the key. 

Tony stepped inside turning on the lights and turning up the heat. With a loud meow, the cat entered and went to sit at Tony’s feet. Tony just shook his head and laid out the towel for her. Going to the sink, Tony drew a cold glass of water. He sat it on the table and pulled his pills out.

“DiNozzo.”

Tony started. Gibbs was standing inside the door staring at the pill bottle. “They’re herbal.” 

“What are they for?” Gibbs shut the door. 

Tony countered. “Why are you here?”

“You’re not yourself. At first, I thought it was an off week.” Gibbs walked toward his agent. “Are you running another undercover op?”

“No. I learned my lesson.”

“What’s going on? Is it Senior? Are you being blackmailed?”

“No. Gibbs, let it go.”

“Not this time, I didn’t intervene before when you were in over your head. I’m not going to make that mistake again.”

Tony pushed the feelings of guilt and concern away. “Gibbs, I’m not in over my head. This isn’t something you can help me with.”

“So, there is an issue.” Gibbs felt vindicated. “I’m not going to let you go through whatever it is alone.”

“Even if that’s what I need?”

“Tony, talk to me. You can tell me anything.”

“Merow.” The cat seemed to add its two cents.

“When did you get a cat? I didn’t think you liked them.”

“Bad experience with an attack cat when I was little. She’s not my cat. I ran into her in the garage as I was leaving work. I couldn’t leave it in the cold. Come Tuesday she’ll be looking for a home.”

Gibbs was puzzled with the interaction between Tony and the cat. Re-focusing, Gibbs returned to his earlier line of questions. “Did the plague have unexpected long-term complications?”

“Gibbs, physically I’m fine.”

“Tony, we could sit here all night with me prying it out one word at a time. After all, I’ve been doing interrogations for a lot longer than you have. Save us both the aggravation.”

Tony let his head lean backwards so he was looking at the ceiling. In his current condition, he knew he would not be able to withstand Gibbs’ interrogation. Even when Tony confessed, Gibbs wouldn’t believe him. “Fine.” He may be giving in, but Tony wasn’t going to make it easy.

“Are you meeting someone here?”

“Just the opposite.” Tony sighed. “This is my sanctuary. I bought this place years ago so I would have a safe house to go where I could get away from everyone. You’re the only one who knows that this place exists.”

“A safe house? Safe from who?”

“From everyone. I cope well most of the time. These last few weeks have been too much, I needed time to wind down.”

“We’ve pulled longer shifts before.”

“It’s not the quantity of work hours or number of cases. It’s the emotional toll.” Tony looked directly into Gibbs’ eyes. “You are probably no going to believe me. Gibbs, I’m empathic. I can tell what people are feeling. I do a lot of meditating and I try to block them as much as I can. I play music and it’s an outlet.” 

“The shooting at the px in Santa’s village. Everyone has been broadcasting their feelings. The injured in the hospital. The witnesses. The victim’s families. All the LEOs and the agents from the other agencies. So much fear, sorrow, confusion, rage, guilt…” Tony stopped to breathe. “The last few days I felt I was going to break down it was all too much.”

“The cat? Can you…”

“Sense her feelings? Oh, yeah. In the garage when I went to leave, she was cold, hungry, and frightened. That’s why I let her tag along. I have an affinity with animals. It’s almost as if they can tell that I’m empathic.”

“The cat attack when you were young?”

“Some kids were torturing it. When I grabbed it, it didn’t realize I was protecting it. Senior wasn’t happy that a policeman in the area saw everything and he took me to the hospital and the cat to the vet.”

“Senior knows about your ability?”

“Yes, and he knows how to use it as a weapon. He can control his feelings and expressions. He might have a loving look but be sending hatred or disgust.” Tony grinned. “No, you still can’t kill him. And I didn’t even need to use empathy to know what you were thinking.”

“So, what were your plans for the weekend?”

“Long walks in the woods. Meditation. Try to excise some of the backlog from the last few cases.”

“I should get out of your hair. Give you solitude.”

Tony picked up Gibbs’ state of mind. “You envy me. The case really got to you, too. You don’t have to go, Gibbs.”

Gibbs shook his head at Tony’s accuracy. “I don’t want to make it more difficult for you.”

“It’s okay. There are enough woods for us both to take walks.”


End file.
